Vaqs have rough start

After a promising start to the season in which they captured the Tee-Off Classic, the members of the Glendale Community College men's golf team looked to continue their success during their Western State Conference opener Monday at Valencia Country Club.

Unfortunately for the Vaqueros, they unexpectedly fell on hard times.

Glendale college shot a 401 to tie for fourth with Ventura College, but Ventura won the tiebreaker by virtue of having a lower sixth score on the par-72 course.

"It's a tough course and the greens were hard, but four other teams did better than us," said Glendale college Coach Greg Osbourne, whose team won the Tee-Off Classic on Wednesday at Los Serrano Country Club in Chino Hills. "As a team, we were horrible and our scores reflect that.

"As a coach, I have to accept all responsibility for our guys. I have to take things into perspective. Coming up here, we figured we'd do no worse than second. Our scores were ridiculously high. Young guys make mistakes, but we have to do a lot better."

Host College of the Canyons won with a 375, followed by Santa Barbara City College (399) and Allan Hancock College (400). Glendale and Ventura tied for fourth with a 401, followed by Citrus (409) and Bakersfield (414).

Sophomore Nick Quintanilla led the Vaqueros, who finished second in conference last season before moving on to the state tournament for the first time in the program's history, with a 76.

Freshman Mathias Dahl had a 77 for the Vaqueros, who received an 81 from freshman Ryan Chotivichitr, an 83 from sophomore Michael Timpson, an 84 from freshman Clayton Ojeda and an 88 from freshman Richie Maloof.

Ventura's sixth player registered an 85.

Osbourne said he was perplexed by the Vaqueros' final scores.

"It's not like they are not practicing," Osbourne said. "Maybe they are not practicing right and that's my fault.

"Every shot is key out there. They need to practice their shots at practice, so that when it comes up in a match, they can see it. This is like a rude awakening. We now have to refocus for our next match."

Glendale will next compete in another conference match at 10 a.m. Monday at River Course at the Alisal in Solvang.